Original artwork, not a still
If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit.
— Back to the Future ‧ 1985
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the film's promise and its first punchline in one sentence: a scientist's confident arithmetic, then a car that vanishes and leaves fire behind. Fans took 88 mph as the number that means time travel, and it is still the speed in jokes, speedometer stickers, DeLorean replicas and every 21 October celebration.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Back to the FutureShow the scene
Back to the Future, 1985. In the small hours of Saturday 26 October 1985, Doc Brown stands in the car park of Twin Pines Mall in Hill Valley and shows Marty McFly his DeLorean time machine, with Marty filming on Doc's video camera. Doc explains that the car must reach 88 miles per hour, puts Einstein the dog inside, and works the car by remote control. The DeLorean streaks past, leaves twin lines of fire on the tarmac and vanishes; Doc logs the temporal displacement at 1:20 a.m. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale wrote the film.
Sources (3)
- Futurepedia: Back to the Future transcriptTwin Pines Mall scene, near the startReference checked
- Wikiquote: Back to the FutureDoc Brown section; page headerReference checked
- Futurepedia: Back to the FuturePlot, 1985 sectionReference checked
Context reviewed
